 | The wonders of Jamestown continued as I explored the museum. It focuses on three groups of people - the Europeans, the Indians, and the Africans. There were too many things to spend a decent time on, so I just needed to make the most of my time. Like always, I wanted to find real artifacts and not recreated displays. I wasn't looking for the display of items found at Roanoke, but there they were. Imagine the mystery surrounding that failed colony. Looking at these artifacts, one wonders if there is some clue as to the disappearance of the colonists there. Also on display was a flack jacket from the 1500s, a cannon and a ducking chair from the 1600s. The ducking chair was used to try and punish people accused of witchcraft. |
I was especially interested in the African area of the museum, but not as much for the displays. I was compelled to think more about the black family that was reading the displays. They didn't do anything to indicate so, but I wondered at how they saw the artifacts from a different point of view than I did.
If we're looking for ways to use the Jamestown experience in an elementary classroom, perhaps a quick look at the specialties of the inhabitants. How many of the men were carpenters, fishermen, blacksmiths, or preachers. This is easily charted in a math lesson and written about in an I Am poem. With a little creativity, a teacher can expand a historical lesson to include all the subjects. Students would thank any teacher who went the extra mile to do so.
